What Friends Do
by Daniel Wesley Rydell
Summary: She was gonna do it for her friend, 'cause that's what friends did… …at least, Chell thought so.


_Quick note: I'm using some very specific word choices. If you don't understand why by the end of the story, then I haven't done my job right._

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><p>"The grass hurts my foots," was the first thought Chell had when she began to walk away from the shack that hid the only remaining way in and out of Home. And she was crying because the grass (at least, she thought that's what it was called; It was a long time ago when she last see'd it) was hurting her foots.<p>

The thing above her was blue, like the pretty blue bridges that were inside Home. But, when she remembered Home and its pretty blue bridges and its funny blue bouncy pits, she started to cry even harder.

She was scared the blue thing above her was going to burn her hairs. She'd been covering her head with her best friend ever since she had been kicked out of Home. But her best friend was heavy, and she knew that the big yellow thing in the sky that she'd seen when she'd looked to see what was up there was warm. She didn't want her friend to get hot, but she didn't want to burn her hairs either.

She didn't know how long she walked for, but when she saw a big tree (she thinked that was what it was called), she sat under it. Her feet were yucky, and they had red stuff coming out of them in a few places. She thought that might be blood, but she wasn't too sure, but the yucky stuff on the outside floor stopped it from leaking so she was happy.

And she was happy that the big tree stopped the blue stuff from burning her hair, and making her best friend hot. But, even though she was happy 'bout that, she still cried cause she really missed Home. She missed Home and her funny gun that shot those funny portal things.

She missed the Mommy who helped her with her tests, but she didn't miss mean GLADoS. Mommy was nice and told her that she was doing goodly on her tests, and always made her feel special and loved, though she didn't always understand the big words that she said. She really, really, really, really missed Mommy.

She pouted. Mean GLADoS had hurt Mommy, she knew it.

GLADoS had told her she was fat, but she didn't think she was, but Mommy had told her that she had broked the aer… aer…. the bouncy board; so if she had broked that, she must be fat. Big tears fell down her cheeks at the thought. Mommy had left her, and brought back mean GLADoS because she was fat, hadn't she?

She wailed softly. GLADoS telled her that she was a bad person… but she hadn't meant to hurt mean GLADoS, honest! She just didn't want mean GLADoS to hurt her anymore, and every time she tried to say sorry, mean GLADoS wouldn't listen! And she had made her leave, and take her best friend with her, and she hadn't let her say good bye to Mommy!

Her wailing grew louder, as the blue thing above the tree started to change to a different color, but this one looked like the funny portals she made at Ap… Apra…. Apper… Ahper….. Home.

She really missed Home now; because Home was warm, and it was getting cold.

Maybe mean GLADoS would let her come back and say good bye to Mommy? Maybe Mommy would tell her and mean GLADoS that it was okay to stay in warm Home! And if she was good and did her tests, she'd let her have the yummy cake she'd been looking forward to for so long.

GLADoS didn't let her have any cake, but Chell never knew why., cause Mommy had told her she could have it when she was done testing.

Mommy and GLADoS both said she was adoptatated too, but she didn't know what that meant. She thought that it maybe meant that she was a good girl and did her tests good, but then mean GLADoS had told her that it was bad.

She sniffled as a fresh wave of tears fell down her cheeks, landing on her best friend. She didn't know how to take care of herself without Mommy or mean GLADoS… or her friend…!

Her tears became (if possible) more streamlike.

She was worried about Cubey! Her best friend had all these black ouchies all over him, and they wouldn't come off, and she knew that Cubey was in pain, but Cubey still wouldn't talk to her because she had left him in one of the test chambers because Mommy wouldn't let her take him with her. But mean GLADoS didn't have to hurt her friend!

She hugged Cubey close to her, all the while hoping she wasn't hurting her best friend… she didn't want to be like mean GLADoS and hurt her friend anymore than he was already hurt.

After a while of hugging him and crying even more, her tears dried, and she put her friend down next to her, being as careful as possible. And she began to think, and think, and think, and think. It was hard, but maybe it was because of that 'brain damage' Mister Wheatley had said she had.

But, she finally did figure out what to do.

When her friend was better, she'd go back and make mean GLADoS let her talk to Mommy, and tell her it wasn't nice to make her leave home, 'specially when her friend was hurt so bad. She'd pout and cry and scream and yell until mean GLADoS listened to her.

She was gonna do it for her friend, 'cause that's what friends did…

…at least, Chell thought so.

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><p><em>I'm not sure what to quite make of this. It feels very sporadic to me, and it was difficult to write, because I was writing from the perspective of a child. I am working under the possibility that the brain damage she has been accused of having in Portal II is at such a great extent, that it regresses her to a child, remembering things from the first session of tests, but not enough to know that GLADoSMommy (as she was calling her) is not actually in it for her best interests. _

_I realize I did take some liberties with this, but it was a muse that wouldn't stop talking. It was also a stretch to write it (and required a bit of research on certain quotations and other things.)_

_Hope you enjoyed it. Please excuse the (intentional) childish word usage._

_~dwr_


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